Ditto what Jeri Jennings said - with the loss of so many respected and dependable sources in the last few years the ones who are left need to be rewarded. I have never had a bad experience with ARE and I have gotten all my roses from them through mail order. In fact with the exception of one lovely, healthy Sally Holmes that I bought locally all my roses have come in the mail and the only one that I have lost was turned a-- over teacup by a squirrel while I was out of town and my assistant gardener was not able to resuscitate her. I had a similar experience early on with my baby band of Mrs. Keay's The Bishop and he is six feet tall today because I got him back in the dirt quickly enough. It is amazing what a determined squirrel can do although the roses that ARE ships are pretty much past a squirrel's weight class thank goodness. Another good reason to order from them.

TNY78, sounds like fun! Can't wait to get mine! MGleason we have family over on that side of the state so I go out usually a few times a year. Don't have any trips planned currently though. The Norwich Castle sounds beautiful. I'm nervous about my Whiskey Mac surviving the winter here after reading these comments... Flaurabunda, the Rainbow's End sounds great! Mine just started getting some leaves so I'm hopeful! My other plant from Edmunds grew super fast so I was a little worried about RE but it's finally getting some green :)

EEEEEuck! what vendor was this, I hope you don't mind me asking Susan? I think any band sent too small shouldn't be sent unless it has enough strong,large enough viable leaves to survive the UPS journey. Why some vendors don't follow this rule of thumb is beyond me. LittleTXYard, it's a great idea to keep taking photos just in case. At first when I was reading this post I was thinking what??? bands this late in the season? until I checked the zones and I thought ahhh, now I understand. I think as long as there's enough strong leaves on the band you should be o.k. It's when you get lots of shriveling and sickliness that's when I feel you are entitled for a refund or exchange, even if the rose were to survive a few months later. Weak roses take some time to re-cover and normalize and for cold zoners this is not a good scenario. To me a rose needs to be of decent health and size to be sent out. I have seen some of Vintages' baby bands and they look fantastic. In the future, if I ever go with baby bands I'm getting Vintage bands.

when i moved here.. i brought 1500 potted hosta ... in promix.. heavy peat media ... rototilled to 12 inches .. and slipped the hosta out of the pot .. and stuck the media in the native sand ... over the years.. many cared not a bit.. and thrived.. then i started getting fairy rings [the middle dying in EXACTLY the size of the pot/media] .. and out right loss ... the problem is that the sand was wicking all the moisture out of the peat media .. especially come july and august ... when the sand was really hot ... so.. it is best.. to plant them in native soil ... and not leave that wad of media ... thought the better your soil.. the less it matters ... ===>>>>> by making the cone.. and really firming it up.. you can .. hopefully .. set and retain the plant at the PROPER PLANTING DEPTH .... if some of your hosta.. end up planted too deep ... THEY COME UP LATE ... and many will suffer ...in the long run ... if and when they come up .. and they are late.. then they need to be dug up.. and replanted AT THE APPROPRIATE DEPTH ... the pips.. eyes .. NEED TO BE AT SOIL LEVEL ... not one inch lower ... THERE are 3 parts to a hosta.. the roots.. and the leaves .. and between the two.. is a potato like thingee called the crown ... and the crown .. like an iris.. is at soil level ... another way to tell if they are too deep .. is that if the3y are supposed to be 12 inches tall .. and yours is say.. 8 inches.. and just look squat ... then you poke around.. and see if you can find the crown.. most times.. you will find it a couple inches too deep .... ====>>>> chris grows his in mother earth ... i dont know what his potting media is ... ====>>>> you do not need to remove 100% ... just shake off the majority of the media .... if it is severely root bound.. use the hose ... ===>>> potting media is not soil ... if you want to pot them .. use a PROPER MEDIA ... new post if you cant find old posts on that topic ... if no one above suggested what kind .. ===>>>> did i miss any other questions??? ken